Most recent papers:

• Foreign direct investment flows from the south to the east of the EU: dissecting the different effects of psychic distance stimuli.
  Alfredo Jiménez, Carmen Palmero, Juan Alfredo Jiménez.
  European Journal of International Management. April 30, 2014
  This paper examines the influence of psychic distance stimuli on foreign direct investment flows from countries located in the south of Europe towards the new members of the European Union from central and Eastern Europe. By applying panel data techniques, evidence of a negative relation is obtained for distance in democracy, whereas a positive one is obtained for per capita GDP and distance in education and industrial development, which demonstrates that these investment flows are characterised by an efficiency-seeking approach and low educational and technical requirements. This FDI motivation prompts firms to maximise cost advantages such as reduced salaries or input prices. Also interestingly, political risk does not seem an obstacle, in accordance with recent literature on political capabilities. The results highlight the fact that distance does not always constitute a barrier but an opportunity for the firm.

  April 30, 2014   doi: 10.1504/EJIM.2014.060767   open full text
• Internationalisation of innovative activity in Finnish multinational enterprises.
  Mo Yamin, Rudolf R. Sinkovics, Christopher Richardson.
  European Journal of International Management. April 30, 2014
  This paper examines two aspects of the internationalisation of innovation in Finnish multinational companies, the growing innovativeness of foreign subsidiaries ('creative subsidiaries') and the phenomenon of 'cross-fertilisation', between R&D labs in Finland and those in foreign subsidiaries, in the innovative process of Finnish MNEs. We review existing literature pertaining to innovation in multinational enterprises and the growing capability of foreign subsidiaries to undertake innovation. Consistent with the general thrust of the literature we develop and examine two hypotheses relating to subsidiary innovation and cross-fertilisation between subsidiaries and the parent for 30 Finnish MNEs between the years 1975-1995, employing patent data from the US patent office. Our findings provide support for the hypotheses. We conclude by pointing out the limitations of the current study and deriving implications from our findings for future research.

  April 30, 2014   doi: 10.1504/EJIM.2014.060771   open full text
• The influence of academic staff's personal and professional characteristics on the decision to cooperate with industry.
  Mário Franco, Heiko Haase, António Fernandes.
  European Journal of International Management. April 30, 2014
  University-industry cooperation is important for economic development, particularly at the regional level. Despite this relevance, there is still a lack of understanding regarding the underlying factors that drive the transfer of knowledge and technology. Therefore, this research aims to identify factors related to academic staff's personal and professional characteristics that influence the decision to cooperate with industry. To attain this objective, we built up a unique dataset of academic staff, based on a survey of the total population of a higher education institution in Portugal. Based on a logistic regression, the results reveal that variables such as gender, age and the school influence academic staff's propensity to cooperate with the business sector. We present theoretical and practical implications for academics, policy-makers and practitioners.

  April 30, 2014   doi: 10.1504/EJIM.2014.060770   open full text
• How to create international business competences and their impact on firm performance.
  Domingo Ribeiro Soriano, Daniel Palacios-Marqués, Carlos Devece-Carañana, Marta Peris-Ortíz.
  European Journal of International Management. April 30, 2014
  This work aims to analyse the effect of the holistic view, continuous learning and information technology infrastructure on the creation of international business competences. The study also investigates whether the creation of this type of competence significantly affects firm performance using the structural equation modelling method of hypothesis testing. A survey of 257 companies from the biotechnology and telecommunications industries verifies the mediating role of international business competences. These findings suggest that managers should emphasise the creation of a holistic view, promote continuous learning and improve the information technology infrastructure in order to develop international business competences, because these competences have a positive and significant impact on firm performance.

  April 30, 2014   doi: 10.1504/EJIM.2014.060769   open full text
• Managing resources for economic value creation in the family firm.
  Alfredo M. Bobillo, Juan A. Rodríguez-Sanz, Fernando Tejerina-Gaite.
  European Journal of International Management. April 30, 2014
  This study examines the financing choices of family firms in relation to leverage and economic value creation, taking into account the family firm life cycle. Firm ownership, control and the generation that is managing the family firm are other attributes of these firms. Additional factors, such as the exploitation of intangible assets (innovation capacity), and the ability to detect growth opportunities may also prove important in contributing towards successful economic value creation strategies. Using a panel of 738 Spanish firms, including 338 family-run businesses, we show that ownership structure, along with other variables, such as the firm's use of intangible assets, its growth capacity, the generation running the firm and the stage it has reached in its life cycle, provide the foundational pillars for economic value creation and leverage in the family firm. We also find a higher proportion of family businesses in cyclical growth industries.

  April 30, 2014   doi: 10.1504/EJIM.2014.060768   open full text
• Interpersonal trust and within-nation regional e-commerce adoption.
  John T. Gironda, Mark F. Peterson.
  European Journal of International Management. April 30, 2014
  This study extends research on within-nation regional differences as well as the relationship between interpersonal trust and within-nation regional e-commerce by empirically investigating 44 regions of three European Union nations: Italy, Spain and Portugal. Within-nation regional trust data from the World Values Survey is used in conjunction with within-nation regional e-commerce data from the Eurostat Database. Results show that even after controlling for GDP, region size and population density, interpersonal trust is still positively and significantly related to within-nation differences in e-commerce adoption.

  April 30, 2014   doi: 10.1504/EJIM.2014.060772   open full text